FAQ SWITCH edu-ID

Why does the University of St.Gallen require me to have a SWITCH edu-ID account?

Does the SWITCH edu-ID account replace my HSG user account?

What are the SWITCHaai services?

Why is the Unviersity of St.Gallen implementing SWITCH edu-ID?

How do I create my SWITCH edu-ID account?

Which of my personal e-mail addresses shall I use when registering with SWITCH edu-ID?

Why do I have to link my HSG user account to my SWITCH edu-ID account?

How do I link my HSG account to my SWITCH edu-ID account?

I cannot authenticate myself with my SWITCH edu-ID credentials. What shall I do?

1. What is SWITCH edu-ID?

SWITCH edu-ID is a digital identity for all academic services across Switzerland independent of the institutional affiliation.

The identity is lifelong.

The identity is created, owned and managed by the user.

The service is run by SWITCH for the Swiss academic sector.

2. Why does the University of St.Gallen require me to have a SWITCH edu-ID account?

Starting in July 2019, all University members (students and employees) will need a SWITCH edu-ID account for accessing the following SWITHaai services:

SWITCHaai services (refer to FAQ 4.)

hsgcareer.ch

SWITCHdrive, SWITCHengines, SWITCHinteract, etc.

Planned for 2020/21, additional services will be:

anmeldung.unisg.ch - the first application for admission at the University of St.Gallen

Compass, plus additional HSG internal web applications

SLSP - the new library system

Further information will follow in due course.

3. Does the SWITCH edu-ID account replace my HSG user account?

No. You will still need your HSG user account for accessing all of the university’s applications not mentioned in FAQ 2.

4. What are the SWITCHaai services?

SWITCHaai services are Swiss and international academic web services and resources. To access them, users must have a SWITCH edu-ID account.
During 2017/18, more than 7800 HSG members used 160 different SWITCHaai services. The services included areas such as library content, publication services, hardware and software service providers. Below is the list of the services most commonly used by the HSG members:

Ebook Central

uniboard.ch

onthehub.com

hsgcareer.ch

SwissBib

ASVZ Online-Schalter

Atypon

UNiDAYS

projektneptun.ch

SheerID Verification

5. Why is the University of St.Gallen adopting SWITCH edu-ID?

To keep up with new trends in the academic world, such as the growing mobility or lifelong learning, identity management requirements have had to be fundamentally rethought and further developed. Hence, SWITCH edu-ID has been developed as an enhancement to SWITCHaai. To benefit from this new development, the University of St.Gallen is one of the first organisations to migrate from SWITCHaai to SWITCH edu-ID.
The ultimate goal is to have all organisations of the SWITCH community migrated to SWITCH edu-ID by 2021.

6. How do I create a SWITCH edu-ID account?

The registration is done in four simple steps. You will need a personal, permanent e-mail address:

Go to the SWITCH edu-ID registration page

Fill in your name, your e-mail address and a password

After the creation of your account a verification token (link) will be sent to your e-mail address.

Click on the confirmation link to activate your account.

Accept the SWITCH edu-ID Terms of Use.

7. Which of my personal e-mail addresses shall I use when registering with SWITCH edu-ID?

Often people have several e-mail addresses. For the registration with SWITCH edu-ID use an e-mail address that has the following features:

Permanent and valid even after you have completed your time at HSG.

Current and regularly used. The address will be used to validate your registration.

8. Why do I have to link my HSG user account to my SWITCH edu-ID account?

Most of the SWITCHaai services require an affiliation with a university. For students, it is their enrolment and for employees it is their working contract. Through linking your HSG user account to the SWITCH edu-ID account you will define your affiliation with the University of St.Gallen.

9. How do I link my HSG account to my SWITCH edu-ID account?

Using an internet browser, start edu-ID HSG LinkingApp. Follow the following three steps: